Rejoicing in God’s Grace
- Mar 1
- 4 min read
Rejoicing in God’s Grace
Among the most serious spiritual problems in the world today is the failure to delight in God’s grace.
We live in an age that speaks constantly of self-esteem and self-expression, yet rarely of sanctifying grace—the only source of enduring joy. The Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor reveals Jesus as the beloved Son of God, foreshadows the Resurrection, and anticipates heavenly glory.
The Transfiguration also teaches us about the Kingdom of God within our hearts, sanctifying grace, and the joy we experience when we are in a state of grace. When Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it is good that we are here” (Matthew 17:4), he experienced, however briefly, the joy of beholding divine glory. Among the most serious spiritual problems in the world today is the failure to delight in God’s grace.
The Catechism teaches that God shares His love by shedding grace upon us. The many movements of actual grace prepare, sustain, and restore us, and they find their fulfillment in sanctifying grace. God directs us on our way with His actual grace. Actual grace impels us to fulfill His will, maintain the gift of sanctifying grace, or calls us to repentance so that we may recover it if lost.
Sanctifying grace is the light of Christ within our hearts. God infuses sanctifying grace into our hearts on the day of our Baptism. We instantaneously lose sanctifying grace when we commit a mortal sin (a gravely evil action committed with knowledge and full consent of the will). We regain sanctifying grace with repentance and perfect contrition (we repent of the sin because we’ve offended God, not merely because we fear punishment) or in the Sacrament of Penance.
Through sacramental absolution, even our limited imperfect contrition—sorrow arising from fear of punishment—is elevated and perfected by grace. The bright light the Apostles saw on the mountain is the same kind of light that fills our souls through grace. God “transfigures” us from the depths of our souls.
God designed the human conscience to hear His voice. A mature conscience is formed by authentic Church teaching. Because God gives us the gift of freedom (in His image and likeness), He ordinarily guides us through the sanctuary of conscience, which must be properly formed and obedient to truth. A well-formed and sensitive conscience has a keen sense of sin. But we often smother our consciences with worldly concerns and sinful interests. Several popes in the Twentieth Century lamented the widespread loss of the sense of sin in today’s culture. The culture has also lost a sense of God’s grace.
When we lose sanctifying grace—the light of Christ in our souls—through the commission of a mortal sin, we not only lose the right to heaven, but we also forfeit the deep spiritual peace that flows from friendship with God. A member of organized crime—or anyone who knowingly persists in grave injustice—may make millions, but loses the happiness that comes with a good conscience.
An integral Confession includes an examination of conscience, repentance, sorrow, confession, and penance. Such a Confession, made with sincerity and completeness, repairs, with God’s grace, a guilty conscience, removes guilt, and restores sanctifying grace in our hearts. We may still have to deal with the consequences of our sins, but a good Confession gives us certainty of our good standing in the Church and before God.
When a child disobeys his Mom and touches the hot stove, Mom grants her forgiveness. But the child needs an ointment to treat the sting of the burned finger. Similarly, Confession removes the guilt of, say, the sin of adultery. But a penitent must pick up the pieces of his life according to his wits, strengthened and guided by God’s continuing actual graces.
But just as we have often lost a sense of sin, we have also lost the sense of delight in sanctifying grace. Upon receiving the absolution of the Church, God lifts the burden of guilt and sets us free. Yet, stories abound about penitents who can’t bring themselves to “forgive themselves.” In extreme cases, the inability can even lead to the taking of one’s life.
It may seem shocking or insensitive to suggest that it is impossible “to forgive myself” for my sins. Strictly speaking, forgiveness is God’s act, not ours. At best, the phrase is a code for an inability to dismiss the memory of one’s transgressions. At worst, it is a recipe for despair, like the sin of Judas.
The Devil, who has access to our memory and imagination, delights in stirring the pot of discouragement, even after a good Confession. The Devil does not want us to trust in God’s mercy. He hates the joy of our spiritual transfiguration and rages with our delight in God’s grace. He wants us to die in our sin. Hence, he whispers a truly diabolical commandment: You must forgive yourself. He reminds us of the illicit joys of our sins and beckons us back to the scenes of the crimes. He tries to convince us that we failed to repent of our illicit pleasures. (If some form of illicit pleasure wasn’t the object of the sin, what was? Repentance objectively rejects the act, not the subjective feeling!)
Only God forgives. Only God infuses sanctifying grace into our hearts. Only God will show us how to navigate the difficult path we made for ourselves after the commission of grave and self-destructive sin.
Among the most important messages of the Transfiguration is the joy of the Apostles as they witnessed the glory of Christ. The Apostles descended the mountain strengthened by a glimpse of glory. Likewise, the memory of sanctifying grace sustains us as we take up our crosses and follow Christ.
God loves us. He forgives a repentant heart. He transforms our souls with His grace. He sustains us in His loving Providence as we return to the path of salvation. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)
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